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one hundret al a fifty miles below Niklayefik, which  . is situated Dear the mouthof the Amoor River. It was discovered by La, Verouse, the French navigator in the year 1787, and named by him in honor of the Marquis De Castries, at one time Minister of Marine of France. Vessels bound for the Amoor always enter this port to procure pilots, or to await the arrival of one of the Russian eorvettes from Nikplayefsk, which frequently steam down fpr the purpose of towing vessels to that port. This precaution is necessary on account of the difficult navigation of the upper end of the Gulf of Tartary, and of the "Liman," or Gulf of the Amoor, the latter, in particular, being very shoal, and the channels narrow, intricate, and shifting. It is not deemed safe for vessels to. attempt the passage without favorable weather and good pilots, unless attended by one of the steamers.
By reference to the chart, it will be seen thatthe Amoor River, at a point distant about two hundred miles above its mouth, near the.aRussian town of Marinsk, is not more than fifty miles west of Castries Bay. From this point the river flows nearly due north parallel to the coast-line about one hundred and fifty miles, and then turns eastward to join the Liman.
For two thirds of the distance between Castries and Marinsk there is water communication by way of Lake Kidzi, a small sheet of water adjoining the iAmoor River, and over the fifteen miles of land portage remaining a corduroy road has been constructed, leading over "Beregovoi Khrebel," a range of low hills forming the water-shed.
Owing to these natural advantages-the shortness of the portagefrom Castries to Lake Kidzi, and the accessibility of 'the- good, though small-bay and harbor-the Russians at one time strongly entertained the idea of building either a rairoB  u:'r coasi  connectingtie bay witih the-Amioor, -tebiby 'avoiding the, shoals and other bstacles-in the Limnan; 'bat, 8 yet; no fmrther steps have been taken toward eompletig
*wNrkth.?to Hake some prelimioary surveys, from whibo
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